NYCReview
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Ortobello's
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The inside of Ortobello’s feels a little like a Roman trattoria, if you snatched it out of Italy and placed it on a corner in Mapleton, Brooklyn, next to a barbershop, and across the street from a restaurant called Pizza Daddy. The food here is very much not Roman trattoria—the spicy vodka chicken parm might utterly confuse a born-and-bred Italian—but for excellent Italian American classics in Brooklyn, there's no better place.
In this red-and-white room, decorated with old paintings, photos, and a a papier-mâché nativity scene, Andy Ortobello runs the show, just like his father did so before him. He ambles around in a backwards baseball cap, presenting the handwritten specials board, refilling a carafe of red for the table of 12 taking up half the restaurant, and thanking the couple from New Jersey for making the trip. Every time we come here, we thank ourselves for making the trip too.
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Ortobello's is the sort of place we want to scream about from the rooftops, and then, once we've finished screaming, bring everyone we know for a big birthday dinner. If there’s spicy vodka chicken parm on special, get it, along with mozzarella in carrozza, and the linguine with clams, which has whole cloves of garlic in it that are just ever-so-slightly crushed. Save room for a massive, jiggling square of citrusy ricotta cheesecake for dessert. Whether it's a special occasion or just a Sunday night, this is the place to come when you want to be warmed by way of cheese, from the inside out.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Mozzarella in Carrozza
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Chicken Parm
Linguine With Clams
photo credit: Ortobello's